The Law of Group Polarization

And an invitation to a group that operates according to a different law.

Why “More Dialogue” Doesn’t Always Work

If you’re interested in why we’re so polarized, or highly dissatisfied with the Ezra Kleinan answer to that question, then I encourage you to download (free) this excellent paper by Cass R. Sunstein.

It’s one of the strongest pieces of research supporting how we know mimetic theory works in the ideological sphere that I have ever seen.

The paper, written in 1999 (for some odd reason, relatively unknown in Girardian circles), is called “The Law of Group Polarization.” Its core finding:

Contrary to popular belief, many people come away from group deliberation —including ”dialogue with people from the other side"—more polarized and extreme than they went in.

You can read the article yourself, so I will only summarize a few key points and draw attention to what I think is particularly salient to our exploration of mimetic theory and what it brings to bear on these issues.

First off, here’s Sustein giving his an explanation of what we know as mimetic de…